We are delighted that dentistry is being taken seriously by all the parties in the election and has featured in many manifestos and media interviews.
This reflects the many concerns voters have about NHS dentistry, something we share given the impact it is having in terms of staff recruitment and retention, stress and burnout.
Our recently launched manifesto for dentistry encapsulates many of the issues highlighted by the main parties and proposes several actions government can take to improve NHS services. These include more coherent workforce planning and renewed public health initiatives.
However, we believe that many of the problems are attributable to the current NHS dental contract, so we urge all parties – and the next government to address this as a priority.
Read the Faculty of Dental Surgery manifesto here.